Trolley-conductor.



W! HOOPES & T. VARNEY.

TROLLEY CONDUCTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11. 1914.

1,157,393. Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

f. |N ENTOR WITNESSE S- L. I William \Yoopes,

% I and Theodore Var-neg.

' BY g E ATTORN EY T fnnirnn srarns Para,

carton.

HOOPES AND THEODORE VARNEY, .OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA TBOLLEY-CONDUCTOR.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented oeme, 1915.

'Appli'oation filetllu ly 17,1914. Serial No. 851,463.

To all-whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM Hoorns and THEODORE'VARNEY,CltlZQIlS'Of the United States, and residents of Pittsburgh, in the county, of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,v have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Trolley Gonductors, of which the following is: a specification.

' @ur invention relates tooverhead electric railway structures and particularly to s'truc'- tures' of the so'-cal led catenar'y type.

One object of our inventionis to provide a composite trolley conductor the parts of which maybe easily and cheaply manufactured and readily and expeditiously assembled and attached to a supporting structure.

Another object of our invention is to pr0- vide a conductor of relatively light weight that shall have a large current-carrying capacity and such strength and rigidity as to adaptitto withstand the heavy pressure and ShOCkS'OEE current collecting devices that are employed upon such railway locomotives and cars as are operated at high speeds.

A further object ofour invention is to provide a conductor of the character above indicated that automatically compensates for eiipansion and contraction, under changes in temperature, without danger of bucklingor being subjected to undue strains, at any seasonof the year or under any op crating conditions.

In the operation of railways by electricity,

the tendency is toward the use of high voltages and large" amounts of power. Heretofore, when high voltages have been employed,- conductor wires of comparatively small cross-section similar to those which have been used on so-called trolley roads, have been suspended over the track by .means ofsupportingstructures' of the catenary or othertype.

On account of the high voltage and on account; ofthe trouble' due to ordinary trolley wheels leavingr the ,wire at high speeds, it has generally been necessary to use some form of slidingshoe or roller collector. Fur thermore, oni account of the necessity of having, the wire sufiiciently high above the rail to clear ordinary freight cars having men on them, and also because there are usually low bridges or otherobstructions which require the; wire to be lowered at certain rea s. th fia we wh ch supp r h tively high longitudinal stress have caused difliculty, on accountof changes in tempera ture; Devices,embodying springs, have been tried for maintaining a comparatively uniform tension on the conductor wire but, on account of the high tension, such devices have been very heavy, cumbersome, and, in the main, unsatisfactory.

The most successful type of stationary conductor which has been used, in so far as the collection of current therefrom by a moving train is concerned, has beenthe third rail. The reason for this has been that the ra i1 is rigid and has a relatively large amount of transverse stiffness so that relatively heavy pressure may be'employed in the collecting shoe without producing distortion of the conductor. Whemhowever, it is necessary to use high voltages, as well as to meet certain otherconditions of service, it is advisable to have the conductor overhead rather than beside the track.

Our present invention is designed to combine, in an overhead conductor, suitable for use with high voltages, the mechanical running qualities of the third rail.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a portion of one of our trolley conductors, parts being broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line AA of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of a longer section of conductor than is shown in Figs.

'1 and 2.

The portions of our trolley conductor that are'preferably suspended from a ,caten-ary steelcable, in accordance with well known practice, are strips 1 and 2 ofcopper, aluminum or other metal of relatively high conductivity that may be of any desired length and cross-sectional area. For convenience in rial variations from these dimensions are,

ofwave form, as indicated in the drawing. Contact pieces or shoes of any desired material, length and cross sectional shape are clamped to thelower edges of the com I 'ductor strips 1 and 2 by any suitable means to be engaged by trolley contact devices and thus relieve the strips from the wear to which they would otherwise be subjected.

. smooth, uninterrupted contactsurface for V As shown in the drawing, the contact shoes 3 are of inverted T-shape and are clamped between some or all of those portions of the strips 1 and 2 that are in juxtapositionto each other, bolts lbeing preferably em, 7 ployed for this purpose.

The pieces 3 are preferably formed of some tough hard metal, such as galvanized steel, and their bottom'portions are convexly curved laterally, as indicated in Fig. 3. The ends of the pieces 3 are preferably scarfed to provide a the current collector and are spaced apart a slight distance to'permit of-expansion and contraction under changes in temperature.

The end portions of the pieces 3 that are located between spread-apart portions of the strips 1 and 2 are bolted'between splice plates 5 so that the pieces may be kept in perfect alinement, the holes for the bolts 6 being of sufficient size to permit the clamped members to expand and contract without buckling. Although the strips 1 and 2 are designed and mounted to provide for variations in length, under temperature changes, by lateral deflection, their'edgewise disposition with reference to the pressure of current collectors insures a large degree of resistance to such pressure.

In order to prevent accumulations of dirt and cinders between the strips .1 and 2, the

- lower edges may be setslightly above the base portions of the contact pieces 3, thus leaving spaces for the escape of such material as may fall between the. strips. Al-

though the material that may descend between the strips 1 and 2 will .be intercepted by the base portions of the contact pieces 3, the action of the wind and the up-andQ down movement caused by the trolley will serve to dislodge the greater portion of such material. V V I I The contact shoes 3 may be made of any desired lengths, and they may be attached to the conductor strips and to' each other by any suitable means that will. insure proper current conductivity and will permit them to expand and contract with changes in temperature without disturbing operating relations and conditions.

-We claim as our invention: 7 p

1. A trolley conductorfcomprising long side by-side strips of relatively high conedges thereof. x I v I 2.1A trolley conductor comprising-sideductivity and relatively short contact shoes 7 of hard metal clamped between said strips and extending in proximity to: the lower by-sideconducting strips of wave form and contact shoes clamped between the adjacent portions. of saidstrips and extending ad- 'the strips, and splice plates clamped to the ends of the contact shoes between separated portions of the strips;

l. A trolleyj conductor comprising sideby-side strips of wave form and contact shoes of inverted T section clamped between I 7 said strips and having scarfed ends. ,7

5. 'A' trolley conductor comprising-sidetions of which are in juxtaposition and "spaced apart, and contact shoes lclamped between juxtaposed portions of the strips and extending along the bottom edges of the strips.

s5 by-side strips ofvvaveform alternate por- 6. A trolley conductor comprising sideby-side strips having portions in juxtaposi tion and alternating portions spaced apart,

contact shoes having scarfed ends and disposed end-to-endjalong the bottom edges of' the strips, meansforflattaching the contact shoesto juxtaposed'portions of the strips, and splice bars for the adjacent ends'of said contact shoes.

7. A trolley conductor comprising long side-by-side strips having portions in juxtaposition and alternating portions spread apart, contact shoes of inverted T section clamped betweenthe lower edges of juxtaposed portions of the strips, and splice plates clamped to the ends of'the contact shoes between spread-apart portions of the strips.

' 8. A trolley conductor comprising sideby-side strips of relatively high conductivity and contact shoes of invertedT section clamped between .said' strips at intervals and having bottom surfaces of laterally convex curvature.

9. A trolleyconductor comprising'side by-side strips of wave form and 'of relatively high conductivity, and contact shoes of relatively hard metal clamped to said strips and extending along the same in'sub stantial alinement with each other.

10. A trolley conductor 5 comprising side-.

by-side strips'of wave form and of relatively high'conductivity, and "contact shoes 1 of relatively hard metalv extending along the said strips'and having transversely convex bottom surfaces. 1 V

" 11. A trolley conductor comprising sideby-side strips of relatively high conductivity and contact shoes. of relatively hard metal supported by said strips and extend- In testimony whereof, we have hereunto 10 ing along the same in substantial alinement subscribed our names this 10th day of July, with each other. 1914.

12. A trolley conductor comprising side- WILLIAM HOOPES by-side strips of relatively high conductivity and contact shoes of relatively hard THEODORE VARNEY' metal clamped to said strips and extending Witnesses: along the same in substantial alinement M. S. THOMPSON, With each other. EMMA UHLINGER.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

